Curried Pumpkin Soup

Sorry for the absence. It has been a crazy week! After celebrating the husbands birthday, we spent the weekend just hanging out on the couch. We watched lots of HIMYM on Saturday then spent Sunday watching the Carolina Panthers play. Yes, I said just play. Not win. Yet. 

However, Sunday I was in utter suspense. As a final birthday present for my husband, I plotted and schemed with his sis Cleo (not biological but might as well be), who lives in Myrtle Beach to come out and surprise him with a visit. She arrived on Monday but Sunday I was so excited and really wanted to get my house super clean for her arrival but couldn't let the husband onto anything. He knew something was up and he would get a "gift" and I had worked so hard to keep this surprise for almost THREE WHOLE WEEKS, I couldn't blow it then. 

But it all worked out in the end. She arrived safely and we were able to pull off the surprise! (And he really was surprised!) 

One of the things that I love about where I live is that every Tuesday there is this awesome farmers market downtown. The food, the deals, the fresh produce! I was inspired. Since it was going to be a lot cooler for Cleo and I was really craving something warm and homey, I decided to make Curried Pumpkin Soup. And since we were already going to the farmers market, I could totally take advantage of the local produce making this the best batch I've made! 

Curried Pumpkin Soup:

2 cups or so of pumpkin

olive oil

2 tbsp of unsalted butter

1 onion (you can use yellow but I found some great mild red onions), diced

2 small pears, peeled, cored and cut into chunks

3 cloves garlic, minced or through the garlic press

curry powder (more on that later)

1/2 cup dry white wine or apple juice

6 cups chicken broth

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

salt

pepper

sour cream

In your best soup pot, heat up the olive oil and butter. Add the onion and saute it over medium heat until its tender; I think it was about 10 minutes. While that is working, you've got time to peel and chop the pears up. I got the pears at the market and when I told the guy what I was using them for A) he was madly impressed and jealous and B) scored me an extra pear provided I give a follow up review next week. 

Add the pears and the garlic to the onions. Then add the curry powder. The original recipe that I have says to use 1 tbsp of curry powder however I don't think that is enough. I think overall I used about three tablespoons but my theory is to add it until you like the way it smells. Cook it all together for another few minutes. Since we were going to have a late dinner, I sauteed it for a few minutes more to try and help the pears break down a bit more. Season with salt and pepper. 

Add the wine/juice to the pot and deglaze the pan. And remember, always use a wine you will drink as well. If it's not good enough to drink, it's not good enough to cook with. This was my first time with this particular variety and it was pretty tasty. 

At this point, add the pumpkin and the chicken broth. This being the way I cook, I just kind of eyeballed the pumpkin so it was probably a bit more than 2 cups but it came out just fine. Bring the soup to a boil. 

Reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for 45 minutes. 

Puree the soup. You can do this one of two ways. If you have an immersion blender, USE IT! It is by far the easiest way to puree it. If you don't have an immersion blender, prepare for battle via blender. Honestly, be prepared. Don't fill the blender up with soup, use two pot holders or heavy towels to hold the top of the blender on and pray. The first time I made this many years ago, I didn't have an immersion blender yet so had to use the counter version and ended up with a counter full of soup. The heat of the soup popped the top of the blender off and it went everywhere! Take that as your fair warning to prepare! 

Return the soup to the pot if you used the counter blender and heat it back up. Stir in the heavy whipping cream and adjust the seasonings. Honestly, it didn't need much adjusting. Serve it in pretty fall colored bowls topped with sour cream, toasted pumpkin seeds if you can find them or creme fraiche (which I would love to have found). 

Because I felt like we needed a little protein to go with the yummy soup, I decided on sea scallops. Confession, I have never cooked them before. Luckily Cleo is a seafood guru and helped me to make some pretty tasty scallops. 

Originally the thought was to eat the scallops on the side but when it came dinner time, my husband put his scallops in his soup and we all followed suit because it was pretty badass. So kudos to him for having the brilliant idea to do so! 

It takes time to set up and simmer but this soup is awesome when the weather turns colder and you have great produce to take advantage of! Cleo was impressed, the husband had his pumpkin craving satisfied and I got to wear the cow apron so it was a win/win! 

This is how Cleo and I spent the day waiting for the husband to get off work. We went whale watching and saw leopard spotted seals, sea lions, an otter eating some mussels, humpback whales (above) and dolphins (below). She had been whale watching before but didn't see a whale (this was on the east coast) so it was pretty awesome that we got to see so much of the marine life out here in such a short span of time.